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FROM   THE  LIBRARY  OF 
REV.   LOUIS    FITZGERALD    BENSON,  D.  D. 

BEQUEATHED   BY  HIM  TO 

THE   LIBRARY  OF 

PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


Section 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


http://archive.org/details/diesiragOOnevi 


y^ 

DIES   \RJE 

JAN  10 

NINE  ORIGINAL  ENGLISH 
VERSIONS 


BY 


W.  W.  NEVIN,  M.A. 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S   SONS 


NEW    YORK 
27  West  Twenty-third  Street 


LONDON 
24  Bedford  Street,  Strand 


Ube  Tkntcfeerbocfcer  press 
1895 


Copyright,  1895 

BY 

W.  W.  NEVIN 


Ube  Ifcnicfeerbocfcer  {press,  IWcw  IRocbelle,  1R.  JB, 


preface* 


T  T  was  many  years  ago  while  studying  for  the  law 
that  my  attention,  in  reading  the  Dies  Irce,  was 
arrested  by  the  remarkable  amount  of  legal  phrase- 
ology used  in  its  few  brief  lines.  Witness  as  to 
this:  "Teste,"  "Judex,"  "Judicanti  responsura," 
"  Cuncta  stricte,"  "Judex  cum  sedebit,"  "Quern 
patronum,"  "Juste  judex,"  "Diem  rationis," 
"Culpa,"  "Reus,"  "Gere  curam,"  "  Reus  judi- 
candus  "  ;  and  every  verse  is  gloomy  with  the  black 
imagery  and  despairing  atmosphere  of  the  court- 
room. It  is  a  picture  of  a  criminal  trial  as  criminals 
were  tried  in  the  thirteenth  century — dismal,  hope- 


PREFA  CE. 


less,    hapless.     "  In   curia   domini   regis,    ipse,    in 
propria  persona  jura  decernit." 

It  is  hard  for  any  one  not  read  in  the  history  of 
criminal  jurisprudence  adequately  to  conceive  the 
terrible  and  hopeless  surroundings  that  environed 
the  unhappy  accused  put  on  trial  in  mediaeval 
times.  The  king  perhaps  no  longer  sat  in  the  aula 
regis,  but  in  his  seat  there  was  commonly  found  the 
ecclesiastic,  clothed  by  delegation  with  all  his  limit- 
less powers,  and  administering  what  was  then  sup- 
posed to  be  justice,  with  methods  of  procedure  and 
rules  of  evidence  which  the  humaner  later  ages  have 
swept  away  in  righteous  wrath.  The  prisoner  at 
the  bar  stood  alone,  without  friends,  without  rights, 
without  a  cause,  removed  from  human  aid  and 
apparently  from  human  sympathies.  The  very 
charge  seemed  to  take  him  out  of  this  world  and 
throw  him  on  the  kinder  mercies  of  the  next.     In 


PRE  FA  CE. 


those  methods  of  trial,  indeed,  generically  known 
as  the  judicium  dei,  embracing  the  ordeal,  the  ser- 
ment,  the  trial  by  battel,  the  corsned  (the  conse- 
crated bread)  and  others,  everything  proceeded  on 
the  fundamental  assumption  that  the  accused  was 
guilty  in  the  eyes  of  man,  and  was  to  be  cleared  or 
saved  only  by  the  special  interference  of  God.  It 
was  conviction  or  a  miracle.  Even  in  the  more 
intelligent  and  rational  procedures,  torture  was  a 
legitimate  part  of  the  machinery  of  evidence  ;  the 
prisoner  was  not  allowed  counsel  ;  a  copy  of  the 
charge  or  indictment  was  not  furnished  frequently 
until  the  moment  of  trial  ;  and  the  final  judgment 
was  read  in  cruel  and  unusual  punishments,  burning 
alive,  burying  alive,  perpetual  bondage,  confisca- 
tion, escheats,  attainder  of  blood,  excommunication 
— the  death  of  the  soul.  The  unborn  child  was 
punished  in  the  flesh  of  its  father,  and   the    pre- 


PREFA  CE. 


sumptuous  hand  of  an  earthly  tribunal  essayed  to 
stretch  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven  and  there  en- 
force its  pitiless  decrees.  Often,  too,  these  fearful 
trials  were  held  in  secret,  and  there  was  no  code  or 
pandect  or  body  of  the  law  open  to  the  many,  and 
for  the  guidance  and  protection  of  all.  In  many 
cases  there  was  no  appeal  or  review,  and  the  con- 
victed prisoner  was  hurried  dramatically  from  the 
judgment  hall  to  a  chamber  of  execution  by 
torture. 

It  is  hard  for  us  now  to  conceive  of  such  merciless 
conditions,  but  even  in  later  times  and  under  the 
milder  common  law  of  England  a  prisoner  on  trial 
for  a  capital  crime  was  not  so  much  as  allowed 
counsel.  Indeed,  this  privilege  was  never  fully 
attained  until  the  reign  of  William  IV.,  and  then 
by  statute.  Blackstone,  lecturing  about  1760,  says  : 
44  Lastly  it  was  an  antient  practice  derived  from  the 


PREFA  CE. 


civil  law,  and  which  also  at  this  day  obtains  in  the 
Kingdom  of  France,  that  as  counsel  was  not  allowed 
to  any  prisoner  accused  of  a  capital  crime,  so  neither 
should  he  be  suffered  to  exculpate  himself  by  the 
testimony  of  any  witnesses."  Even  the  extraor- 
dinary process  of  alleged  reasoning  which  led  to  the 
establishment  of  such  a  rule  as  this  is  not  intelli- 
gible to  our  more  humane  and  juster  modes  of 
thought.* 

But  it  was  in  this  barbaric,  bloody  and  revenge- 
ful way  that  these  people  in  the  thirteenth  century 

*  A  curious  survival  of  this  feeling  of  the  extreme  hopeless- 
ness of  a  criminal  trial  exists  in  certain  formula  of  the  law 
still  in  use  in  some  parts  of  this  country.  In  Pennsylvania  to 
this  day  in  the  criminal  courts  the  jury  is  sworn  "  to  well  and 
truly  try  and  a  true  deliverance  make  between  the  common- 
wealth and  the  prisoner  at  the  bar."  And  on  a  plea  of  not 
guilty  being  entered  by  the  prisoner,  the  clerk  of  the  court 
responds,  u  And  may  God  grant  you  a  safe  deliverance."  I  am 
aware  that  the  word  "  deliverance  "  in  this  formula  is  capable 
of  at  least  one  other  construction,  but  its  use  by  the  clerk 
seems  to  support  the  construction  here  adopted. 


PREFA  CE. 


tried  each  other,  and  expected  God  to  try  them- 
selves. And  in  that  time,  too,  the  terrible  Day  of 
the  Lord  was  earnestly  believed  to  be  near  at  hand, 
for  the  period  of  the  fateful  "  thousand  years  "  was 
impending. 

There  is,  as  a  consequence,  in  old  mediaeval  reli- 
gious poetry  much  of  the  same  hopeless  dread  of 
the  judgment-day  and  its  near  approach,  as  in  the 
Dies  Ir<z.  A  few  brief  verses  from  Walter  de 
Mapes  in  the  twelfth  century — himself  a  judge  and 
an  ecclesiastic — in  vigor  and  terse  power  come  so 
near  to  the  gloomy  strength  and  grandeur  of  the 
great  "  first  hymn  of  the  Church,"  and  are  so  little 
known,  that  I  may  be  pardoned  for  inserting  them 
here,  as  a  kind  of  illustration.  Unfortunately  they 
do  not  lend  themselves  well  to  English  translation. 
Here,  too,  nearly  every  word  is  written  in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  law  : 


PREFA  CE. 


DE  EXTREMO  JUDICIO. 

Judicabit  judices  judex  generalis, 
Ibi  nihil  proderit  dignitas  papalis, 
Sive  sit  episcopus  sive  cardinalis, 
Reus  condemnabitur  nee  dicetur  qualis. 

Ibi  nihil  proderit  quidquid  allegare, 
Neque  vel  excipere  neque  replicare, 
Neque  ad  apostolicam  sedem  appellare, 
Reus  condemnabitur  nee  dicetur  quare. 


Cogitate,  miseri,  qui  et  qualis  estis, 
Quid  in  hoc  judicio  dicere  potestis 
Ubi  nullus  codicis  locus  aut  digestis, 
Idem  erit  judex,  actor,  testis. 

In  Mapes's  quaint  De  Nugis  Curialium,  chap. 
I.,  there  occurs  this  very  blunt  sub-head,  "  Assimi- 
latio  curiae  regis  ad  infernum." 

Following  this  conception  that  the  poem  is  a 
picture  of  a  trial,  I  have  endeavored  in  translating, 


PRE  FA  CE. 


wherever  possible,  to  render  the  Latin  legal  terms  by 
the  equivalent  terms  or  formula  in  use  in  our  land 
and  time,  or  as  nearly  as  can  be.  As  near  as  can 
be,  for  it  is  not  always  easy  to  find  the  exact  equiva- 
lent in  English  for  even  Spanish  or  French  legal 
terms  in  use  at  this  very  hour,  and  this  difficulty 
increases  very  greatly  in  going  back  six  hundred 
years. 

Another  rule  of  translation  or  conversion — The 
Dies  Irce  is  largely  almost  a  cento  from  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments — mainly  from  those  portions  which 
foretell  of  the  Day  of  Judgment,  or  touch  on  the  life 
and  sufferings  of  Christ  on  earth.  It  is  a  mosaic 
worked  out  of  fragments  from  the  Psalms,  the 
Apocalypse,  the  prophets  and  the  gospels.  That  is 
one  of  the  secrets  of  its  great  power  and  enduring 
hold  on  the  human  mind.  Any  one  can  test  this  by 
consulting   Zephaniah,  i.  :  15,   16,    18;    Matthew, 


PREFA  CE.  xi 

xxxv.:  31,  etc.,  xxiv.:  29-31  ;  Joel,  i.:  1,  2  ; 
Isaiah,  xiii. :  9,  10,  11,  and  18,  19;  Luke,  xxi.:  25, 
27  ;  II.  Peter,  iii. :  10,  12  ;  I.  Corinthians,  xv. :  52  ; 
I.  Peter,  iv. :  18  ;  Revelations,  vi.:  12,  17;  xx.:  11- 
13  ;  I.  Thessalonians,  iv.:  16,  17  ;  Ezra,  i.:  6  ;  Job, 
xlii. :  6;  Psalms,  xcvi.:  5,  13  ;  St.  John,  xvii. :  12, 
iv. :  6;  Hebrews,  xii.:  2;  Daniel,  vii. :  10,  and  the 
dozens  of  cognate  passages  that  lead  from  one  to 
another. 

The  text  of  some  of  these  passages  as  given  in  the 
Vulgate  quoted  on  pages  3-5  will  show  where  the 
writer  of  the  Dies  Ir<z  drew  his  inspiration,  and 
how  closely  he  follows  often  the  literal  wording. 
Thomas  of  Celano  (it  was  before  the  time  of  print- 
ing) read  these  passages  in  the  old  Latin  texts  which 
finally  collected  and  gathered  together  have  come 
down  to  us  as  the  Vulgate  edition  of  the  Bible,  and 
wrote  his  hymn  in  Latin.     It  has  seemed  to  me  to 


PREFA  CE. 


be  particularly  the  function  of  the  English  translator 
to  reproduce  as  nearly  as  possible  and  as  closely  as 
possible  where  the  limitations  of  the  rhymes  allow 
it,  these  Latin  phrases  and  words  in  the  equivalent 
English  phrases  and  words  taken  from  the  English 
Scriptures,  and  for  that  reason  hallowed  and  dear  to 
the  heart,  and  clothed  with  a  thousand  solemn  and 
impressive  associations.  In  other  words,  as  Thomas 
of  Celano  followed  the  Vulgate,  I  have  endeavored 
to  follow  him  in  the  St.  James's  Version  of  the  Eng- 
lish Bible. 

Further  in  this  same  line,  scriptural  words  fail- 
ing, I  have  tried  to  adopt  and  adapt  words  or 
phrases  from  hymns  or  prayers  common  to  English 
faith,  and  which,  consecrated  by  long  use  and  tender 
association,  have  become,  as  it  were,  current  coins  in 
the  exchange  of  Christian  thought  and  feeling. 

W.  W.  N. 


New  York,  Sept.  i,  1895. 


Dies  Hv$z 


DIES  IRJE. 

Dies   irae,   dies    ilia,   dies    tribulationis   et   angustise,   dies 
calamitatis  et  miseriae,  dies  tenebrarum  et  caliginis,  dies  tubae 
et  clangoris  super  civitates  munitas  et  super  angulos  excelsos. 
Zephaniah,  c.  i.,  v.  15,  16. 

Quia  Venit  dies  Domini,  quia  prope  est.     Dies  tenebrarum 

et  caliginis  dies  nubis  et  turbinis. 

Joel,  c.  h\,  v.  1,  2. 

Statim  autem  post  tribulationem  dierum  illorum,  sol  obscura- 
bitur  et  luna  non  debit  lumen  suum,  et  stellse  cadent  de  ccelo, 
et  virtutes  ccelorum  commovebuntur. 

Et  tunc  parebit  signum  filii  hominis  in  ccelo.:  et  tunc  plan- 
gent omnes  tribus  terrae :  et  videbunt  Filium  hominis, 
venientem  in  nubibus  cceli  cum  virtute  multa  et  majestate. 

Et  mittet  angelos  suos  cum  tuba  et  voce  magna,  et  congre- 

gabunt  electos  ejus  a  quatuor  ventis  a  summis  ccelorum  usque 

ad  terminos  eorum. 

Matthew,  c.  xxiv.,  v.  29-31. 

3 


DIES  IRM. 


£t  stellse  de  coelo  ceciderunt  super  terram.     .     .     . 

Et  reges  terrse,  et  principes  et  tribuni,  et  divites,  et  fortes, 
omnis  servus  et  liber  absconderunt  se  in  speluncis,  et  in  petris 
montium.  Et  dicunt  montibus  et  petris  ;  "  Cadite  super  nos, 
et  abscondite  nos  a  facie  sedentis  super  thronum  et  ab  ira 
agni." 

Quoniam  venit  dies  magnus  irae  ipsorum  :  et  quis  poterit 
stare  ? 

Revelations,  c.  vi.,  v.  13-17. 

Et  vidi  thronum  magnum  candidum,     .     .     . 

Et  vidi  mortuos  magnos  et  pusillos  stantes  in  conspectu 
throni,  et  libri  aperti  sunt ;  et  alius  liber  apertus  est,  qui  est 
vitae ;  et  judicati  sunt  mortui  ex  his  quae  scripta  erant  in 
libris,  secundum  opera  ipsorum. 

Et  dedit  mare  mortuos  qui  in  eo  erant ;  et  mors  et  infernus 
dederunt  mortuos  suos. 

Revelations,  c.  xx.,  v.  11-13. 

Canet  enim  tuba  et  mortui  resurgent  incorrupti. 

I.  Corinthians,  c.  xv.,  v.  52. 


DIES  IRsE. 


Cum  autem  venerit  Filius  hominis  in  majestate  sua,  et 
omnes  angeli  cum  eo,  tunc  sedebit  super  sedem  majestatis 
suae  ; 

Et  congregabuntur  ante  eum  omnes  gentes,  et  separabit 
eos  ab  invicem,  sicut  pastor  segregat  oves  ab  hoedis  : 

Et  statuet  oves  quidem  a  dextris  suis,  hoedos  autem  a 
sinistris. 

Tunc  dicet  rex  his,  qui  a  dextris  ejus  erunt,  "  Venite  bene- 
dicti  Patris  mei,  possidete  paratum  vobis  regnum  a  consti- 
tutione  mundi.     .     .     ." 

Tunc  dicet  et  his  qui  a  sinistris  erunt,  "  Discedite  a  me 
maledicti  in  ignem  seturnum  qui  paratus  est  diabolo  et  angeiis 
ejus." 

Matthew,  c.  xxv.,  v.  31,  34,  41. 


DIES  IRM. 


2>fes  irae. 

i.      FMES  iroe,  dies  ilia, 

Solvet  sseclum  in  favilla  ; 
Teste  David  cum  Sibylla. 

2.  Quantus  tremor  est  futurus, 
Quando  judex  est  venturus, 
Cuncta  stricte  discussurus. 

3.  Tuba  minim  spargens  sonum, 
Per  sepulcra  regionum, 
Coget  omnes  ante  thronum. 

4.  Mors  stupebit  et  natura, 
Cum  resurget  creatura, 
Judicanti  responsura. 


DIES  IRM. 


5.  Liber  scriptus  proferetur, 
In  quo  totum  continetur, 
Unde  mundus  judicetur. 

6.  Judex  ergo  cum  sedebit, 
Quidquid  latet,  apparebit, 
Nil  inultum  remanebit. 

7.  Quid  sum  miser  tunc  dicturus, 
Quern  patronum  rogaturus  ? 
Quum  vix  Justus  sit  securus. 

8.  Rex  tremendae  majestatis, 
Qui  salvandos  salvas  gratis, 
Salva  me  fons  pietatis. 

9.  Recordare,  Jesu  pie, 
Quod  sum  causa  tuae  viae  ; 
Ne  me  perdas  ilia  die. 


DIES  IR&. 


io.  Quaerens  me  sedisti  lassus, 
Redemisti  crucem  passus  ; 
Tantus  labor  non  sit  cassus. 

ii.     Juste  judex  ultionis, 
Donum  fac  remissionis 
Ante  diem  rationis. 

12.  Ingemisco  tanquam  reus, 
Culpa  rubet  vultus  meus  . 
Supplicanti  parce  Deus. 

13.  Qui  Mariam  absolvisti 
Et  latronem  exaudisti, 
Mihi  quoque  spem  dedisti. 

14.  Preces  mese  non  sunt  dignse, 
Sed  tu  bonus  fac  benigne, 
Ne  perenni  cremer  igne# 


DIES  IRM. 


15.  Inter  oves  locum  praesta, 
Et  ab  hsedis  me  sequestra, 
Statuens  in  parte  dextra. 

16.  Confutatis  maledictis, 
Flammis  acribus  addictis  ; 
Voca  me  cum  benedictis. 

17.  Oro  supplex  et  acclinis, 
Cor  contritum,  quasi  cinis  : 
Gere  curam  mei  finis. 

18.  Lacrymosa  dies  ilia, 
Qua  resurget  ex  favilla, 
Judicandus  homo  reus. 

19.  Huic  ergo  parce  Deus  ! 
Pie  Jesu  Domine  ! 

Dona  eis  requiem.     Amen. 


DIES  IRM. 


2>ies  Urae* 


1.  C\R  Day  °f  prophecy  appalling, 

When    the    stars   from    Heaven    are 
falling 
And  Kings  upon  the  rocks  are  calling, 

2.  To  fall  and  hide  them  as  the  rending 
Heavens  disclose  the  Judge  descending 
And  the  world  in  wrath  is  ending. 

3.  Blasts  shall  burst  through  ages  swelling 
Where  the  silent  dead  are  dwelling, 
All  before  the  Bar  compelling. 


DIES  IR.E. 

4.  Nature  and  Death  stand  pallid,  fearing 
At  the  Creature  reappearing 

To  answer  at  the  final  hearing. 

5.  Lo  !  the  seal'd  Book  of  Revelation, 
Record  from  the  first  creation, 
Borne  forth  now  for  condemnation. 

6.  God  the  fatal  scrolls  unsealing, 
All  the  sins  of  time  revealing, 
Judgment  to  the  world  is  dealing. 

7.  Where  turn  I  in  consternation, 
When  e'en  the  just  in  tribulation 
Trembling  face  the  dread  citation  ? 

8.  King  of  most  majestic  station, 
Fount  of  grace  and  mediation, 
Save  me,  with  thy  free  salvation. 


DIES  IRjE. 


9.     Oh  recall  to  my  defending, 

Thou  for  me  to  earth  descending, 
Lose  me  not  when  time  is  ending. 

10.  Thou  for  me  to  earth  once  hasted, 
Bitter  death  for  me  once  tasted, 
Can  such  toil  and  love  be  wasted  ? 

11.  Righteous  is  Thy  condemnation, 
But,  Lord,  recall  Thy  mediation 
Ere  the  last  adjudication. 

12.  Crimson  in  my  shame,  and  groaning, 
All  my  conscious  frailties  owning, 
Spare,  oh  God,  the  suppliant  moaning. 

13.  With  frail  Mary  tossed  and  driven, 
With  the  thief  on  Calvary  shriven, 
I  have  hope  to  be  forgiven. 


DIES  IRM. 


14.     Worthless  all  my  tears  and  crying, 
Save  on  Thy  free  grace  relying 
I  perish  in  the  fires  undying. 

15-16.      When  the  fatal  valediction 

Dooms  the  lost  to  dire  affliction 
Grant  me,  then,  Thy  benediction. 

17.  Prone  I  fall  when  Doom's-day  crashes, 
I  repent  in  dust  and  ashes, 

Take  my  cause  when  judgment  flashes. 

18.  Oh  that  Day  of  tears  and  wailing, 
When  the  arisen  soul  stands  failing, 
Spare  him  God — Thy  peace  unveiling  ; 

19.  And  as  fades  this  life  diurnal 
Grant  him  in  that  hour  supernal 
Sweet  rest  in  the  Light  eternal. 

Amen. 


DIES  IRM. 


2>fes  1Fne. 


ii. 


i.     C\&  Day  of  Weeping  and  of  Wailing, 
The  firmament  in  ashes  failing, 
All  the  signs  foretold  unveiling. 

2.  Oh  what  terror  and  what  trembling, 
When  a  summoned  world  assembling 
Sees  the  end  of  all  dissembling  ; 

3.  And  the  last  trumpet's  awful  calling 
Wakes  the  dead — and  leads  them  falling 
To  the  Judgment  Bar  appalling. 


DIES  IR/E. 


4.  Nature  with  pale  Death  is  blending, 
When  is  seen  all  flesh  ascending 
At  the  resistless  call  attending. 

5.  Open  lies  the  Book  of  Ages 

In  whose  dread  recording  pages 
Every  thought  shall  read  its  wages. 

6.  Lo  !  in  the  air  our  God  descending, 
Stern  the  veil  of  judgment  rending 
Shows  the  wrath  to  come,  unending. 

7.  Oh  what  plea  shall  I  then  tender, 
Cry  to  whom  as  my  defender, 
Scarce  the  just  a  prayer  may  render  ? 

8.  Dread  King  of  Majesty  and  glory, 
Whose  dying  is  the  world's  great  story, 
Forget  not  that  free  offertory. 


DIES  IRM, 


g.  Oh  be  mindful,  my  salvation, 
Jesus  caused  Thy  tribulation, 
Remember  now  that  great  oblation. 

10.     Wearily  through  life  Thou  sought  me, 
Bitterly  in  death  Thou  bought  me, 
Can  that  life  and  death  for  nought  be  ? 

ii.     Judge  of  righteous  reparation, 
Grant  Thy  gracious  condonation 
Ere  the  day  of  last  citation. 

12.  In  crimsoned  shame  my  frailties  moaning 
Wretched,  sinful,  guilty,  groaning, 
Spare  me  by  Thy  grace  atoning. 

13.  Thou  that  consoled  Mary  sighing 
And  heard  the  thief  repentant  dying, 
On  Thee  my  hopes  are  all  relying. 


DIES  IR&. 


14.  In  vain  all  mortal  supplication, 
Unless  thou  grant  me  free  salvation 
I  perish  in  the  last  damnation. 

15.  Oh  when  Heaven  and  Earth  dissever, 
With  the  lost  condemn  me  never, 
But,  at  Thy  right  hand  forever, 

16.  Let  me  stand  in  pastures  vernal, 
While  the  doomed  in  depths  infernal 
Writhe  in  fire  and  flames  eternal. 

17.  My  heart  I  lay  with  deep  contrition 
In  the  ashes  of  submission, 

Let  my  last  end  be  Thy  commission. 

18.  Dark  Day  of  tears  and  desolation, 
When  man  in  guilty  trepidation 
Awaits  his  righteous  condemnation, 


DIES  IRM. 


19.     Oh  Lord,  then  by  Thine  arms  surrounded, 
Trusting  in  Thy  love  unbounded, 
Let  him  never  be  confounded. 

Amen. 


DIES  IRsG. 


2>ies  1Fr*e, 
in. 

1.  F\  AY  of  Wrath— that  Day  of  Wailing 

When  the  sun  and  stars  are  paling, - 
Day  when  heart  and  flesh  are  failing. 

2.  Wide  the  shaking  earth  is  rending, 
When  from  Heaven  the  Judge  descending 
Strict  account  on  all  is  sending. 

3.  Lo  !  the  last  trumpet's  sounds  are  flinging 
Through  the  under  regions  ringing, 

All  before  the  white  throne  bringing. 


DIES  IRjE. 


.  4.     Nature  cowers  with  faint  and  quiver, 
When  in  a  weird  spectral  river 
Death  and  Hell  their  dead  deliver. 

5.  See  the  judgment  scrolls  unrolling  ; 
For  all  souls  their  doom  controlling, 
Hear  the  knells  of  judgment  tolling. 

6.  God  the  Judge  enclad  in  splendor, 
Comes  to  each  his  works  to  render, 
Searching  to  the  last  offender. 

7.  What  my  plea  that  Day  appalling  ? 
On  what  Intercessor  calling  ? 
E'en  the  just  have  fear  of  falling. 

8.  King  of  bright  transcendant  glory, 
Lamb  of  sacrificial  story, 
Afford  Thy  grace  expiatory. 


DIES  IRJE. 


9.     Oh  remember,  Lord,  Thy  buying, — 
I  have  caused  Thy  crucifying, 
Leave  me  not  when  time  is  dying. 

10.  Weary  by  the  well  Thou  sought  me, 
On  the  tree  of  death  Thou  bought  me, 
Can  such  labor  all  for  nought  be  ? 

11.  Judge  of  strict  determination, 
Grant  thy  gracious  expiation, 
Ere  the  final  condemnation. 

12.  Like  a  culprit  pale  I  shiver, 
With  the  blood  of  shame  I  quiver, 
Lord,  my  suppliant  soul  deliver. 

13.  By  Magdalen's  absolved  transgression, 
By  the  dying  thief's  confession, 

My  trust  is  Thy  intercession. 


DIES  IRJE. 


14.  Vain  my  prayers  and  lamentation  ; 
Unless  Thy  free  mediation, 

For  me  the  endless  conflagration. 

15.  Oh  when  earth  and  time  are  ending, 
The  pale  lost  to  death  descending, 
And  the  blest  to  heaven  ascending, 

16.  Save  me  from  the  doom  impending  ; 
And,  my  helpless  cause  befriending, 
Take  me  to  Thy  peace  unending. 

17.  Prone  I  pray  in  sore  dejection, 
Gracious  Lord,  be  my  protection 
In  the  Hour  of  resurrection. 

18.  Oh  Day  of  direful  desolation, 
When  Man  in  guilty  isolation 
Stands  in  pallid  consternation, 


DIES  IRM. 


19.     Spare  him,  God,  the  undefended, 
And  by  legions  bright  attended 
Grant  him  rest  when  time  has  ended. 

Amen. 


DIES  IRM. 


®iee  fine* 

IV. 

1.  pv AY  of  Wrath — the  world  illuming, 

Earth  and  sky  in  flame  consuming, 
Dark  though  seer  and  sibyl  looming. 

2.  Oh,  what  terror,  tears  and  quaking 
When  the  Judge  his  dread  throne  taking 
Shall  arraign  a  world  awaking. 

3.  At  the  trumpet's  awful  rending, 
Tongues  and  tribes  in  troops  unending 
Throng  from  riven  graves  ascending. 


DIES  IRsE. 


4.  Death  shall  start  and  nature  paling 
When  all  flesh  ariseth,  quailing 
At  the  summons  earth  unveiling. 

5.  Forth  is  borne  the  record  fated, 
Naught  forgotten — naught  abated, 

For  the  world  with  judgment  freighted. 

6.  God  the  judgment-seat  ascending, 
Silence  now  forever  ending, 
Vengeance  on  a  world  is  sending. 

7.  Where  shall  I  stand,  lost  offender, 
Whither  look  for  a  defender, 
Scarce  the  just  a  plea  dare  tender  ? 

8.  King  of  Majesty  tremendous, 

Thou  whose  grace  did  erst  defend  us, 
Save  me — Christ  deliverance  send  us. 


26  DIES  IRA?. 


9.     Jesus  !  now  to  mind  be  calling 
Earth,  lest  I  defenceless  falling, 
Perish  in  that  Day  appalling. 

10.  Thou  hast  borne  the  Cross's  pressure, 
For  me  suffered  without  measure, 

Is  it  vain — that  bloody  treasure  ? 

11.  God,  impartial  judgment  wielding, 
Pardon  grant  the  sinner  shielding 
Ere  the  world  account  is  yielding. 

12.  Guilty  groans  from  dust  ascending, 
Shame  and  fears  their  colors  blending- 
Spare,  oh  God,  the  suppliant  bending. 

13.  Thou  that  bearedst  Mary's  burden, 
With  the  thief  that  breasted  Jordan 
Givest  my  faith  a  hope  of  guerdon. 


DIES  IR/E. 


14.  Worthless  all  my  poor  petition, 
Let  Thy  goodness  have  fruition, 
That  I  burn  not  through  perdition. 

15.  With  the  cursed  consign  me  never, 
But  may  I,  when  earth  shall  sever, 
Stand  at  Thy  right  hand  forever. 

16.  When  the  lost  with  horror  shaken, 
Are  to  flames  and  fire  forsaken, 
Let  me  to  Thine  arms  be  taken. 

17.  Crushed  I  cry — in  anguish  bending, 
Sighs  in  sorest  sorrow  sending. 
Take  my  cause  when  time  is  ending. 

18.  Oh  tearful  Day,  when  wrath  ascendant 
Man  for  sentence  stands  attendant, 
Spare  him,  God — the  lone  defendant. 


DIES  IRM. 


ig.     And  when  heart  and  flesh  are  failing, 
By  the  bitter  cross'  impaling, 
Grant  him  safe — Thy  rest  unveiling. 

Amen. 


DIES  IRJE. 


H>iee  1Tra:. 
v. 

i.      T^vAY  of  Wrath  when  hearts  shall  fail, 
When  the  powers  of  hell  assail, 
As  the  Seer  and  Sibyl  wail. 

2.  Oh,  what  terror  to  awake 
And  for  all  strict  answer  make, 
When  the  Judge  his  throne  shall  take. 

3.  Through  the  regions  of  the  dead 
Blare  and  peal  the  trumpets  dread, 
As  to  the  Bar  all  souls  are  led. 


DIES  IR&. 


4.  Death  and  life  in  dumb  surprise 
See  the  aeons  all  arise, 
Ranged  at  the  last  assize. 

5.  Forth  is  borne  the  fatal  scroll, 
— See  the  sins  of  time  unroll — 
Every  word  a  dying  soul. 

6.  Jehovah  takes  his  awful  seat, 

— The  avenging  record  all  complete- 
Judgment  to  the  world  to  mete. 

7.  Where  shall  I  stand  in  that  hour? 
Look  to  what  supporting  power  ? 
O'er  the  just  the  heavens  lour. 

8.  King  of  dreadful  majesty, 
King  that  died  on  Calvary, 
King  of  pity — save  Thou  me. 


DIES  IRJE. 


9.     Lord,  my  soul  forget  not  then  ; 
Oh  remember,  Jesus,  when 
Thou  came  down  to  die  for  men. 

10.     All  for  me  Thou  walked  this  vale, 
All  for  me  the  spear  and  nail ; 
Shall  such  travail  naught  avail  ? 

n.     Judge  of  justice  just  and  fit, 
Mercifully  my  sin  remit 
Ere  is  closed  the  final  writ. 

12.  In  my  face  my  doings  stare, 

And  crush  my  heart  in  deep  despair, 
Lord,  the  crimsoned  suppliant  spare. 

13.  By  forgiven  Mary's  grief, 
By  the  pardoned  dying  thief, 
I  have  hope  of  last  relief. 


DIES  IRsE. 


14.     Vain  all  prayers  and  cries  and  tears  ; 
Unless  mercy  free  appears, 
I  perish  through  the  eternal  years. 

15-16.     When  fly  the  blest  where  nothing  harms 
And  sink  the  lost  to  dark  alarms, 
Fold  me  in  Thy  sheltering  arms. 

17.  Low  my  heart  lies  in  the  dust, 
Take  me,  Jesus, — with  the  just, 
In  the  End  be  Thou  my  trust. 

18.  Oh  that  hour  when  from  the  gloom 
And  darkness  of  the  seonial  tomb 
Man  rises  naked  to  his  doom, 

19.  Spare  him,  God,  in  that  inquest 
And  in  the  regions  of  the  blest 

Grant  him  at  last  eternal  rest. 

Amen. 


DIES  IRM. 


%>iee  irrae. 

VI. 

i.      P)AY  of  Wrath,  that  doleful  day, 

When  the  Earth  shall  melt  away, 
David  and  the  Sibyl  say. 

2.  Lo  !  the  trembling  Heavens  rend, 
See  the  Judge  of  all  descend, 

See  the  coming  of  the  End. 

3.  At  the  trumpets  clangor  dread, 
From  far  graves  and  lands  are  led, 
To  the  Bar,  the  quick  and  dead. 


DIES  IRjE. 


4.  Nature  reels  in  blanched  surprise 
When  the  sheeted  dead  arise 
And  falter  to  the  last  assize. 

5.  Forth  the  fatal  scroll  is  borne, 
Dread  Record  of  the  Judgment  morn, 
Unveiling  thoughts  and  deeds  unborn. 

6.  Earth's  dark  secrets  all  lie  bare, 
When,  enthroned  in  the  air, 
God  His  judgments  shall  declare. 

7.  Wretched,  lone,  what  then  my  rede, 
Who  for  me  shall  intercede  ? 
Scarce  the  righteous  dare  to  plead. 


8.     King  of  awful  majesty, 
Saving  men  in  mercy  free, 
Fount  of  pity — save  Thou  me. 


DIES  IRJE. 


q.     Oh  be  mindful,  Jesus,  pray, 
Of  the  Cross's  bitter  way, 
Nor  forget  me  in  that  day. 

10.  Me,  through  weary  life  Thou  sought, 
Me,  upon  the  cross  Thou  bought, 

Can  such  labor  be  for  naught  ? 

11.  Judge  that  shall  just  judgment  deal, 
Mercifully  Thy  grace  reveal, 

Ere  the  Day  without  appeal. 

12.  Low,  with  crimsoned  face  I  groan, 
All  my  evil  doings  own, 

Hear,  oh  God,  the  suppliant  prone. 

13.  By  repentant  Mary's  sighs, 
By  the  thief  in  Paradise, 

I  have  hope  with  .them  to  rise. 


36  DIES  IRsE. 


14.     Vain  my  prayers,  my  tears,  my  cries, 
If  His  mercy  God  denies, 
For  me,  the  worm  that  never  dies. 

15-16.     When  the  sheep  and  goats  divide, 
When  the  flaming  gulf  yawns  wide, 
Hold  me  to  Thy  sheltering  side. 

17.  Crushed  in  heart  I  humbly  bend, 
To  the  dust  my  face  I  send, 
Lord,  be  Thou  my  final  friend. 

18.  Day  of  wrath  and  dolorous  tears, 
When  in  dire  resurgent  fears, 
From  the  clay  the  man  appears, 

19.  Spare  him,  God,  when  ages  quake, 
And  vouchsafe,  for  Jesus'  sake, 

At  the  last  his  soul  to  take. 

Amen. 


DIES  IR/E. 


Wice  1frar. 

VII. 

i.      r\H  Day  of  Wrath,  that  dreadful  Day, 

The  heavens  in  fire  shall  flame  away, 
So  David  and  the  Sibyl  say. 

2.  Earth  trembles  like  the  beat  of  drums 
When  God  the  Judge  to  judgment  comes 
And  the  fatal  balance  sums. 

3.  Lo,  at  the  trumpet's  awful  sound, 
Through  the  dark  regions  underground, 
All  flesh  before  the  Bar  is  found. 


DIES  IRM. 


4.  Pale  nature  faints,  death  shall  be  dumb 
As  down  the  ages'  lengthening  sum 
The  failing  souls  to  judgment  come. 

5.  When  forth  the  fateful  roll  is  brought, 
Into  which  all  the  world  is  wrought, 
Abated  aught — forgotten  nought ; 

6.  Then   God   shall   mount    the   great    white 

throne, 
The  world  its  inmost  secrets  own, 
And  all  things  hidden  shall  be  known. 

7.  How,  then,  pray  I,  in  sin  enslaved, 
Plead  through  whom  for  mercy  craved, 
When  scarce  the  righteous  shall  be  saved  ? 

8.  Terrible  King  of  Majesty, 

Who  savest  the  saved  by  grace  and  free, 
Fount  of  Mercy — save  Thou  me. 


DIES  IRM.  3Q 


9.     Oh  remember,  Saviour,  pray, 

For  whom  Thou  trod  Earth's  bitter  way, 
Nor  once  forsake  me  in  that  Day. 

10.  For  me  thou  lived  life's  weary  drain, 
For  me  was  borne  the  Cross's  pain, 
Can  all  such  labor  be  in  vain  ? 

11.  Just  Judge  must  strict  account  begin  ? 
For  Jesus'  sake  remit  my  sin 

Ere  comes  the  Day  of  Reckoning  in. 

12.  Oh  my  God,  I  am  ashamed, 

And  blush  to  hear  my  frailties  named, 
My  countenance  in  the  dust  is  framed. 

13.  Oh  Thou  that  quenched  Mary's  grief, 
And  heard  in  death  the  dying  thief, 
Thou  art  my  hope  of  sure  relief. 


DIES  IRM. 


14.     Worthless  and  vain  my  tears  and  cries, 
If  God  the  judge  free  grace  denies, 
My  soul  in  endless  torment  dies. 

15-16.     When  the  pale  lost  implore  in  vain 

And  sink  where  Hell  and  horror  reign, 
Close  to  Thy  side  let  me  remain. 

17.  Prone  and  with  bruised  heart  I  fain 
Would  cry,  Lord,  be  my  stay,  and  deign 
To  take  my  cause  when  time  shall  wane. 

18.  Dark  Day  of  Wrath— that  tearful  Day, 
When  man  arises  from  the  clay, 

— Oh  Miserere  Domine — 

19.  Lord,  let  him  enter  by  the  pain 
And  passion  of  a  Saviour  slain, 
The  rest  that  for  us  doth  remain. 

Amen. 


DIES  IR&. 


Dies  1fnc. 


VIII. 


1.  C\R  Day  of  Wrath— that  dread  Last  Day, 

When  earth  to  ashes  flames  away 
So  David  and  the  Sibyl  say. 

2.  What  trembling  pale — what  terror  dumb, 
When  the  approaching  Judge  shall  come, 
The  length'ning  crimes  of  life  to  sum. 

3.  Trumpets  thundering  worse  than  war, 
Rending  tombs  and  graves  afar, 
Shall  compel  all  to  the  Bar. 


DIES  IRjG. 


4.  Nature  and  death  shall  quail  in  gloom, 
When  man  must  leave  his  hiding  tomb 
To  answer  at  the  bar  of  doom. 

5.  Then  the  scroll  shall  forth  be  brought, 
Dread  record  that  omitteth  nought, 

For  all  the  world  with  judgment  fraught. 

6.  Oh  when  our  God  shall  take  His  throne, 
All  that  is  hidden  shall  be  shown, 

And  nothing  shall  remain  unknown. 

7.  What  then  shall  I  poor  sinner  say, 
On  what  support  my  safety  stay, 

When  scarce  the  saints  shall  dare  to  pray  ? 

8.  Great  King  of  awful  Majesty, 

Who  savest  the  world  by  Mercy  free, 
Fountain  of  grace — My  Saviour  be. 


DIES  IRM. 


9.     Oh  remember,  Jesus,  pray, 

For  whom  Thou  trod  the  bitter  way, 
Him  spare  in  that  defenceless  day. 

10.  For  me  thou  bore  life's  weary  strain, 
For  me  the  Cross's  bitter  pain, 

Is  labor  such  for  me  in  vain  ? 

11.  Just  Judge — thine  arm  avenging  stay, 
Pardon  before  shall  come  that  Day, 
When   Thou   the  accounts    of    earth   shall 

weigh. 

12.  Low  in  the  dust,  contrite  I  groan, 
With  conscious  flush  my  guilt  I  own, 
Spare,  Oh  God,  the  suppliant  prone. 

13.  Thou  that  lifted  Mary's  grief, 
Thou  that  heard  the  dying  thief, 
Grant  me  in  that  hour  relief  ! 


DIES  IRJE. 


14.     Worthless  my  prayers  and  poor  desires, 
Have  mercy  or  my  soul  expires, 
Through  ages  in  the  quenchless  fires. 

15-16.     When  the  pale  lost  depart  to  doom, 

Where  only  flames  light  up  the  gloom, 
At  Thy  right  hand  afford  me  room. 

17.  With  suppliant  heart,  contrite  I  bend, 
Lord,  take  the  cause  of  my  last  end, 
And  in  that  Hour  be  Thou  my  friend. 

18.  Oh  Day  of  Wrath— that  fatal  Day, 
When  comes  to  judgment  sinful  clay, 
Spare  him,  Oh  God,  we  faintly  pray, 

19.  And  for  sake  of  Jesus  deign 
Surcease  of  eternal  pain, 
And  Rest  that  is  eternal  gain. 

Amen. 


DIES  IRM. 


Dies  1frae. 

IX. 

i.     (^H  Day  of  Wrath— that  awful  Day, 

When  Heaven  and  earth  shall  glow- 
away, 
As  David  and  the  Sibyl  say. 

2.  Oh  what  trembling  and  what  tears, 
When  the  final  Judge  appears, 
To  call  the  record  of  the  years. 

3.  Loud  shall  sound  the  trumpet  dread, 
As  the  pale  armies  of  the  dead, 

To  the  judgment  Bar  are  led. 


46  DIES  IRJE. 


4.     Nature  shall  faint,  and  tremble  death, 
When  the  dead  retake  their  breath, 
And  each  to  God  his  answer  saith. 

5.     Then  the  dread  book  shall  be  unsealed, 
Whose  pages  are  the  judgment  field, 
Nought  forgotten — nought  concealed. 

6.  When  the  Judge  ascends  his  throne, 
The  hidden  things  shall  all  be  known, 
And  every  deed  in  judgment  groan. 

7.  How  then  shall  I  plead,  naked,  poor, 
What  Intercessor  then  secure, 

When  even  the  saints  may  not  be  sure  ? 

8.  Oh  King  of  Dreadful  Majesty, 
Lifted  in  Crucifixion  free, 
Fount  of  free  grace — deliver  me. 


DIES  IRsE.  47 


9.     Oh  remember,  Jesus,  pray, 

I  am  the  cause  of  Thy  lone  way, 
Forget  me  not  in  that  Great  Day. 

10.  Me — through  a  weary  world  Thou  sought, 
Me — on  the  bitter  cross  Thou  brought, 
Can  travail  such  in  vain  be  wrought  ? 

11.  Judge  of  strict  reckoning,  hear  my  cries, 
And  pardon  grant,  ere  mercy  dies, 
When  comes  the  day  of  last  assize. 

12.  Oh,  God,  I  bend  in  grief  and  shame, 
My  sins  my  guilty  face  inflame, 
The  suppliant  spare  in  Jesus'  name. 

13.  Thou  that  forgavest  Mary's  fall, 
And  heard  the  dying  thief's  faint  call, 
Thou  art  my  hope,  my  faith,  my  all. 


DIES  IRM. 


14.  All  my  prayers  and  cries  are  vain  ; 
If  thou  refuse  Thy  grace  to  deign, 
I  perish  in  eternal  pain. 

15-16.      When  the  lost  forever  banned, 

Depart  to  gloom,  oh  let  me  stand, 
Forever  saved,  at  Thy  right  hand. 

17.  Low  in  the  dust  I  groan  and  start, 
With  bruised  head  and  contrite  heart, 
Lord — in  that  End  take  Thou  my  part. 

18.  Oh  tearful  Day  of  wrath  and  gloom, 
When  from  the  clay  and  sheltering  tomb 
Man  trembles  at  the  bar  of  doom, 

19.  Oh  Lord,  then  keep  him  with  the  blest, 

Enfold  him  safe  on  Jesus'  breast, 

And  lead  him  to  eternal  rest. 

Amen. 


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